Approaching the Loop: A Brief Review of Effective Practises in Continuous Program Improvement

Using the results of outcomes based assessment for the purposes of continuous improvement, or closing the loop, is a frequent topic of discussion in higher education, and is becoming more commonplace amongst Canadian engineering programs. There have been several organizations and institutions in the United States that have been investigating outcomes assessment and how institutions use the data for improvement purposes. Most notable of these are the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment and the schools participating the in the Wabash Study. Despite these investigations and discussions, there is no clear consensus of what a functioning closed loop resembles, due to the diversity that exists between one institution and the next. Ultimately it will be the decision of an individual institution as to what the final process will resemble, but there are some key or effective practises for continuous improvement that can help institutions guide and shape their approach to closing the loop. This paper will briefly review the current landscape in continuous improvement in higher education, and present effective practises, common themes and techniques for closing the loop. The intent of this paper is to provide a resource collection of effective practises to help develop a meaningful, sustainable and practical data-informed continuous improvement process with a focus on engineering.